Slam Theatre
by nutellafueled
Summary: Somehow, despite the stellar performance at I-H, basketball funding is in a slump. The teams put on a fundraiser play to revive the flagging fortunes. Fun, romance, tragedy, passion and more in varying styles. Basketball? What a ludicrous notion! Discont.
1. Prologue

I'm so fickle with fandoms... I hope that this Slam Dunk fandom will make me consistently creative again. Heh... A few days after I wrote this, I read other awesome fics including the Captains series and that epic Conquer the Nation fic. I feel quite demoralised... this is light fiction. Yes. Light fiction only. It's like eating a pack of sugar for that five minutes.

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Scene 1 – Prologue

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"WHAT?!" Sakuragi yelled. This of course was no surprise in itself. Sakuragi shouting was as common as the sun rising, or him failing, or Rukawa sleeping. Except that he wasn't, and it wasn't because they were at practice either.

Instead of being bored into silence, Rukawa was shocked, and you could tell from the way that his eyes bulged out slightly even as his pupils contracted.

Mitsui had just been about to stretch, but had stopped halfway to flash Coach Anzai an incredulous look before turning impassive.

Miyagi, on the other hand, had not bothered to conceal his disbelief. His mouth was hanging so wide open that a malicious writer or artist may have decided to make it so that an insect flew into it. He stole a glance at his beloved Ayako-chan, and strangely enough she actually seemed quite unaffected. As manager of the team, she had probably been pre-informed. And Haruko was giving them all a small, supportive smile.

And Sakuragi... utter disbelief stampeded across his mind. He found himself unable to think clearly for a moment although of course that wasn't new. But even when the cloud of dust settled, there was still an expanse of fog to get through. You couldn't sweep away fog like you could dust, all you could do was to wait for it to disperse.

"That's right," Anzai said with his serene smile on his face. "You're all going to be in the upcoming Kanagawa Day Play, be it as cast or crew. Of course, I volunteered you."

**º†º†º**

Please review?


	2. News

Lol the summary would be weird if I didn't include this chapter in the same update as the first.

PS It's exam period right now (until June 11) so my updates will probably be a little slow even though these lengths do not justify waiting times xD I was going to wait until after exam period, but I well, couldn't u.u So... yeah. Apologies in advance!

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Scene 2 – News: The Exception

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The hall was quiet. For that moment. This secretly pleased Coach Riki since it was a testament of just how disciplined his team was. Even the normally excitable Kiyota was struck dumb, unable to talk although his eyes told a different story.

Of course, the other teams were something else entirely. Well not really the Ryonan team; Taoka had also trained them well it seemed. The team's captain Sendoh still had his indomitable smile to boot. And Shoyo – that was Shoyo, right? They looked completely different – seemed to be doing fine under Fujima's lead. But Shohoku High... that redheaded punk was staring daggers into him, upper lip curled in disgust, and the other teammates were equally unimpressed (Coach Riki's line of sight had momentarily been reduced to Sakuragi, Rukawa, Mitsui and Miyagi. The polite, strained smiles of the other members of the team had been totally ignored). No boy would have been allowed to make those faces at him were they in Kainan. And was Rukawa Kaede sleeping?!

Anyway, battling the growth of a mental aneurysm, he continued, "Basically, the prefectural government has put down an ultimatum for us: 'Raise the money or we'll stop the funding completely'. And the local council has decided that the best way to raise money would be to stage this play. Which one was it again...?" He flipped through his notes, but was interrupted.

"Yes, Riki-sensei. I believe it's called _Romeo and Juliet_," Anzai put in helpfully, which just made Riki that little bit more annoyed.

"Yes, that's right Anzai-sensei. Well, I guess they want to reach a wide audience. You'll be playing _Romeo and Juliet_. Where they find a Juliet from the male teams is anyone's guess... but I'm sure that it will be a learning experience for you all," Riki finished with gritted teeth before relaxing it quite forcefully into a smile.

"Question," someone in the throng of the three groups of boys (separated quite obviously, like there was an invisible line between them) said easily, raising a hand into the air. When Riki looked again he blinked upon seeing that it was Sendoh Akira of Ryonan.

"Yes?" he asked reluctantly, not liking the look in the ace's eyes.

"Can I be Romeo?"

**º†º†º**

Heh heh... I love Sendoh.


	3. The Day Before

Um, hi, filler chapter. :D;; It actually has length this time though! o.o

Also, THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! I love the Slam Dunk fandom. It's way more supportive than any of the others I've dabbled in. Seriously.

Uh-oh. I reread chapter 2 and realised that it was sort of hinting some sort of dominant!Sendoh x somebody relationship. (If you squint super hard with fangirl skillz) Namely RuSen... I can't really write romance. D: OF COURSE I WILL DO MY BEST TO TRY! AND I LOVE RUSEN!! (and variants) It's like my favourite SD pairing :D Hmm... better get to replying reviews.

**Mikage Ceres** – Yea, I'm working on length, the next chapter is definitely longer than this one :) thank you. And thank you for referring your friend! PS I'm sorry I don't think my story will head that direction... ;

**senru111** – THANK YOU! -hugs- and SenRu huh... hehehe... I'll try... I love that pairing!

**SlamDunk160** – Thank you ;) I was wondering how people would react xD

**Crazy Sardines** – Yea Sendoh! Heh... I already had somebody in mind but... the journey to final performance will be pretty crazy, you never know XD

**rainbowsindecember** – Thank you so much for the review! I'm honoured that you like my fic, lol xD I don't think I can accept your compliment about my style though, because I don't think my writing is like that. I think I can't stick to a certain style... Oh well. We'll see!

**Kazakura Haruhi** – Lol I don't know how Sakuragi would react to being forced to play Juliet :P

**Hikari Hanaru fan** – Nice to meet you too! Thank you. We'll see...

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Scenes 3.1-3.6 – HA HA HA HA HA HA wait... (The Day Before Play Practice Session One)

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"That old bastard... those old bastards..." Sakuragi seethed as he stalked back home from the meeting. His gang would no doubt have heard about it from somewhere, because they always did when there was a chance that he would be humiliated. They would probably appear any time soon and laugh to his face.

And almost immediately the sound of boisterous, raucous laughter reached his ears as he turned the corner to his house and almost bumped into his gang, sitting on his doorsteps. The levels of laughter increased once they saw him and Sakuragi honestly wished for lightning to strike them down there and then.

"S-s-s-s-so," Youhei snickered.

"R-romeo and Juli- Juliet?!" Noma managed out before breaking down into guffaws.

"This is priceless Sakuragi, you've been embarrassed many times before but they're nothing compared to this!" Ookusu started to say, but it was all too much for the hot-tempered redhead and he hit each and every one of them on the head in quick succession, saving the best and last hit for the blonde who had been the last straw.

After they had all recovered, Youhei said, "So, Sakuragi, what part are you going to play anyway?" _Romeo?_ This unspoken question flashed across each of the guntai's heads and they all started to snigger, before being silenced by a venomous look from Sakuragi. Then he pondered the question posed to him as the guntai eagerly awaited the answer with bated breath and wide eyes.

"...I don't know, actually," Sakuragi eventually replied, stroking his chin thoughtfully as he leant against the outside walls of his apartment. This certainly bummed out the guntai who expressed various amounts of shock and outrage for that split second before Sakuragi could notice.

"Who's Juliet, then?" Ookusu asked. "Ayako-chan? I don't know if she's part enough of the team... but isn't she the only girl involved in guy's basketball in Kanagawa?" he mused, but Sakuragi was not listening to him now. The mention of Juliet had set this idiot's mind racing, and Ayako's name had set his brain on fire! Well, the last syllable of it anyway. To Sakuragi, Juliet - Ayako? - Haruko! - an idea!!

Yes! He would find a way to get his darling Haruko cast as Juliet somehow! And then he would take the role of Romeo! This amounted to lots of interaction and a valid excuse to sweet-talk and flirt! And there was even a kiss scene at the end! Sakuragi's brain almost short-circuited at this point but well, fortunately it didn't. _And Gori wouldn't be able to do a thing!_

For Sakuragi, that was what cinched it.

**º†º†º**

"Man, I can't believe that we really have to go through with that shitty play thing."

**CLUNK**

"Watch your shooting, Mitsui. You really care about it _that_ much?"

"Whatever, _Captain_. Make yourself useful and pass me the rebounds. And yeah, I can think of a million better ways to raise money. We can't even act!"

"You're missing the point here, Mitsui-san."

"And it would be?"

"Don't talk with that tone to Aya-chan! And to me, for that matter! I'm captain now!"

"The point is that there are thousands of girls in Kanagawa willing to pay obscene amounts to see their idols on stage. Haven't you learnt anything from Hollywood?"

"..."

**THWACK**

"Don't slack off!"

**º†º†º**

The sky was blue, the atmosphere quiet. It was way too early for the gears of Kanagawa to start running, and deep within it one person was thankful. Seagulls flew about meanderingly and squawked to each other in that peculiar language of theirs, and the lone figure made himself comfortable at the pier.

Until he had a revelation.

"The play will wreck my fishing schedule...!"

**º†º†º**

A chance meeting at the bookstore.

"Shohoku basketball team, right?"

"Yeah and you're... Hanagata-senpai from Shoyo!?"

"Yeah. You here to check out _Romeo and Juliet_ too?"

"Hm? Pretty much."

"Yeah..."

"Yeah..."

"So... you know when auditions are? Gonna try out for parts?"

"Me? Hell no. I'm just going to be a backstage worker. I wouldn't go on stage even if you paid me."

A surprise laugh. "Same. But I don't think we have to worry. They're going to focus on getting the popular ones the largest roles. Like your Rukawa."

"Your Fujima, too."

"I wouldn't count on that... you know, I've known him for three years now, and no one can worm out of a bad situation like him..."

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"Hey, hey, Maki-san! Don't go so quickly!" A petulant whining came from somewhere below the #1 player in Kanagawa and said top player didn't even have to look down to know who it was. Why would he, when only one person in the entire ranks of the Kainan basketball team – no, make that the whole damned school – could stick so closely to him and run his mouth off like a bullet train and wave at girls (and be ignored) _and_ polish off a few bottles of Gatorade _and_ do everything else he wanted whilst still annoying his utterly resigned ex-captain?

"Maki-saaaaaan!" Now the wailing was coming from somewhere behind him and Maki realised that he had lost his junior! Oh, sweet bliss! Just a few more steps, maybe unwittingly close the elevator door on him, so that Kiyota might just miss the train that Maki was going to board. Then Maki would be free to return home and well, prepare for university entrance exams. It was pretty much the only thing on his mind and any other senior wanting a future now that the summer Inter-High was over.

"Have you heard about the play?" Kiyota said determinedly, regaining the lost ground in a matter of seconds and shattering Maki's hopes completely. And no, he hadn't heard about the play, and wasn't sure that he wanted to now that university applications were looming. Play? NBA play?

"Probably not..." Kiyota continued, half musing to himself. "Everybody's busy with uni apps now that the summer Inter-High is over, right? Uni this uni that... I guess it is important, I suppose, but how can you throw basketball away just like that?" He flung his bag over his shoulder and jammed both hands into his pockets.

"So, Maki-sa—"

Kiyota looked up just in time to see the elevator door closing on him.

"Maki-san, you..."

He ran the stairs.

**º†º†º**

"That's four yellow plates, three green plates, five blue plates, one silver, one red... damn, you really eat a lot between you, don't you?" Uozomi Jun said as he wrote up a receipt and handed it to Akagi. "Give it to the cashier, and for your sakes I hope you have the money..." He gave a wry smile and remembered all the times when his team had attempted to freeload, using their status as the boss' kid's basketball team to escape payment. Of course, it never worked and the cashier had scared them all into washing dishes submissively. Good times...

"That's because the food is good," Kogure said easily with a smile, earning a wry grin from Uozumi.

"Hey, our high school basketball life has ended. It's no use sweet-talking me because there won't be a next match for me to go easy on you in."

"Ah... speaking of basketball," Akagi said as he accepted the receipt and checked the price. "I heard from Haruko that there's some sort of problem with the funding. Shohoku, Shoyo, Kainan and Ryonan are to put on some fundraising play, I hear."

"You're not serious," Kogure and Uozomi deadpanned together, both raising their hands to their mouths so in-sync that it was almost eerie.

"_Romeo and Juliet_ actually," Akagi continued, a grin forming on his features despite himself.

"Who will be Juliet?" Uozomi chuckled, putting down his knife and fish momentarily because he was afraid that he would seriously lose control of it.

"Kainan's Jin would look the best for the part... with a wig," Kogure snickered, beating a fist against the sushi bar and eliciting a lot of odd looks from the customers. This was actually the last straw for the cashier from hell and they were kicked out of the restaurant after that, after having settled their bill of course.

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Kiyota Nobunaga, resident multitasker. I love him, he's just so cute!

PS. Washing dishes - Citrus-flavoured dishwashing liquid - Sendoh with a smile


	4. Introducing Ishiguro

A quick update for you guys because I love this fandom and I'm sorry for having inflicted the previous chapter upon you even when I knew that well, I didn't like it. Hopefully this one will be better, although I'm nervous as to how people will react to the OC. Also, this chapter is kinda short. So yeah. I thought it would be pretty poor to offer this for the weekly (ish) update.

Da da da... so OMG I was watching that "Slam Dunk 10 Days Later" thing and HAHAHAHAHA FUJIMA WITH A MOUSTACHE AHAHAHAHAHAHA. (lol Chinese version but the pictures are the same) And then I downloaded FET's scanslation. And it got me thinking, would it be great if there was a Slam Dunk II? Sort of like Dear Boys, there's a Dear Boys II. About different people. I'm sure Inoue Takehiko would be awesome enough to make us fall in love with a new bunch of boys... although I would miss Kiyota...

I forgot the disclaimers!! Well, Slam Dunk is not mine obviously.

**senru111 -** Thank you! I didn't expect my chapter to make you so happy, I'm really happy that it did :D Yeah, the Sakuragi and army scene was my favourite, I really love the army. They're so adorable! I hope this chapter satisfies you too, although I have to admit that all it does is the story title S:

**Mikage Ceres - **Um, thank you. I'm thinking this will be like a slice of life thing, so it won't only focus on Ru and Hana. There may be some friendshippy moments... sorry, I don't really ship RuHaha xD Thank you for reading!

**Kazakura Haruhi -** I'm still making modifications to it and I think that this director is not the type to finalise something so quickly! :P

Last thing. Oh my God. keeps screening out special characters AND I HATE IT. La la la, rant over.

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Scenes 4.1-4.3 –Introducing Ishiguro

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For some reason, there was actually some enthusiasm amongst the ranks of Kanagawa's top basketball players as they assembled for their weekly rehearsal. Except it wasn't really a rehearsal per se, with cast, crew, music and everything essential for the play's success still undecided and undone. But some of the more drama-inclined players actually had copies of the script in hand as they recited the lines over and over again for their respective characters. Sendoh was one of them. A disarming smile on his face, his eyes clouded with emotion as he took a few dramatic steps around, reading off the script, "_But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun._" He seemed really intent on getting the part of Romeo and guess whose fire he was stoking?!

_Sendoh, that bastard!_ A certain redhead thought furiously as he watched the spiky head practice. _But just you wait, I'll get that damn part and get Haruko as Juliet, too!_ He was almost too caught up in his burning spirit of competition to notice someone speaking him.

"U- Um, Sakuragi-kun..."

**!**

Sakuragi could recognise that voice anywhere. That honey-toned, milk-heavenly dulcet tone could only come from a certain girl named Haruko and surnamed Akagi. Unfortunately, he wasn't the only person to notice her.

There was a quick flurry of steps as someone hurried towards them eagerly; so eagerly in fact that he accidentally bumped into Sakuragi. Sakuragi had not been expecting that at all since well who the hell would approach him? None of his team was here yet, and even the coaches weren't here yet. Everybody was just mingling about and hanging around. Turning and looking down at his chest level to give the guy a piece of his mind, Sakuragi found that the guy was no longer there.

He then whirled around with a pivot that would have made Anzai-sensei proud (and chalked it down faithfully in his mind as yet another achievement by the Tensai), and Sakuragi advanced, only to realise that the funny man ('_Cap Man_', he decided) was blocking his way to Haruko, screening him out in a way that would make Anzai-sensei proud too. And he was talking to her. Haruko was giggling and blushing.

2 + 2 equals 4... Sakuragi made the albeit erroneous connection between the two and was off in an instant, reaching them just quick enough to hear the tail end of the guy's question.

"...do you want to try out the part of Juliet? Just for now?"

Well... that was easy. Almost too easy.

**º†º†º**

"Everyone, this is Ishiguro-san, the director for the play," Anzai said cheerfully as he raised a bloated hand towards the slightly taller man. Now that Sakuragi had more time to take a look, and also now that he recognised this guy as 'the guy whose good side I have to get on', he noticed that he looked just like an ordinary, if not a little weird in the artistic way, guy.

He was of medium height, about 5 foot 8, and slim, with a red cap jammed easily onto his head. His lightly bleached hair hung in stylish clumps about his face and he wore what was currently all the rage in Shibuya. Apparently it was plaid patterns at the moment. He had light, hazel eyes although it was impossible to tell whether they were colour-contacts or natural, but the rest of his face wasn't as spectacular. His nose was average and his lips were slightly too small in proportion with the rest of his face. He was essentially a less good-looking version of a boy idol, right down to the age.

"Hi, everyone," the director said mildly. "My name is Ishiguro Satoru, but you can just call me Sacchi if that floats your boat. Or Ishi, or Guro... actually wait not the last one, or Toru, or I-Sa, or..." the man ticked off the names finger by finger as he continued so softly that everybody had to strain their ears to hear him. A little embarrassed, Taoka gave an audible "A-hem" and, realising that he was rambling, Ishiguro flashed them all an apologetic smile.

"Sorry. Anyway, I've just graduated from technical college and I am incredibly thankful to Riki-san, Taoka-san and Anzai-san for this opportunity," Ishiguro continued, more confidently now that he had the entire gym's attention although it was probably for the wrong reason. He even struck up a little rhythm, doing a slow jig back and forth with the microphone.

"My favourite food is grilled mackerel and I live in the apartments opposite the train station. I love film noirs and experimenting and I absolutely hate people who won't give new things – or just things in general, actually – a chance. At any rate," he said to them, giving them all a short bow, "it's nice to meet all of you. I look forward to working with— EEAAP!"

**CRASH THUNK BAM**

Obviously he had taken his jig to a new level. Unfortunately, in his enthusiasm his alternating movements had somehow gotten the microphone wire to get caught in between his legs and it was only a matter of time before he tripped, landing flat on his stomach. As he picked himself up with a sheepish, almost self-deprecating grin, and dusted his clothes off, the same thought in varying degrees was running through almost every person in the gym's mind.

'_What an idiot..._'

**º†º†º**

"'Kay guys," the recovered Ishiguro said with a faint smile, sipping a Coke that one of the nicer players of the teams had brought for him, "Any questions?"

"When's the actual play?" some guy from somewhere asked curiously, and Ishiguro immediately replied, "January 28. That's the planned date, anyway."

"But," another person spoke up, "that's only three months away!"

"That's _after_ the Winter I-H!" Fujima said much louder. "What about _that_?"

"Oh," Ishiguro said. "Right. Well, I'll talk with the bosses. We'll figure out something. Anything else?"

Sendoh immediately put up his hand, and Sakuragi proceeded to follow, but since Sendoh was such a cute boy and had a way with people what with his smile and all, Sakuragi was ignored. Nodding at Sendoh, the director said, "Yes?"

As Sakuragi seethed, unnoticed, Sendoh repeated the question he had asked Coach Riki the previous week. Except back then he hadn't gotten a clear answer, having been told to ask the director of the whole project. His unyielding smile was fixed on his face as he waited patiently for an answer.

"Hmm..." Ishiguro said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Why don't we wait and see? I want to see what you all can do. Am I right in assuming that you all have no acting experience whatsoever?"

A collective nod from everyone.

"Well, today we'll just be doing some exercises, then. To flex those acting muscles," he continued agreeably, although who he was agreeing with no one knew. "I want to see what you all can do. You'll separate into groups, and at the end present a little skit. I'll give you the key words. And no," he suddenly said louder, his eyes glinting in an almost scary way, "you won't be separated based on school. I'll divide you all," he finished, leaping down from the stage and stubbing his toe as he landed. Oh Ishiguro. You'd be so cool if you only stopped screwing up.

Eventually, the groups were:

Mitsui, Jin, Rukawa, Hikoichi...

Fukuda, Hanagata, Yasuda, Koshino...

Sendoh, Sakuragi, Uekusa, Hasegawa... and

Miyagi, Kiyota, Fujima, Haruko...

...and of course there were a bunch of other people to fill up the groups, but since we don't know them, and they served no purpose other than be one-liner people (and 'some guys') anyway, I shall not elaborate.

Moving from one group to the other and limping a little, Ishiguro cheerfully gave each group their key word. Each group reacted differently to their word. Group 1 blinked at their word, 'noir', while group 2 attempted a grin although it was apparent that they didn't really have any ideas for theirs ('music'). Group 3 immediately started talking furiously about 'school' since it was led by two people with something to prove. And group 4 just sat unmoving, stunned whilst Haruko went to get a dictionary to look up 'existentialism'.

Smiling genially, and by now the boys had figured out that this guy was smiley enough to rival even Sendoh, Ishiguro announced, "You've got one hour."

**º†º†º**

Incidentally, I can't believe Anzai once represented Japan with his height. He's kind of short... no offence to short people... hey, I'm short :P But I'm also a girl. I guess that means he was super talented, huh?

And about the name Guro, I think that means something perverted in Japanese. Some weird porno genre...


	5. The Skits

la la la. Hello length. Hello also plotlessness. I promise I will return with hints of plot next chapter.

Incidentally, I have a big exam day on June 2. I don't know if I'll be able to update again within a week. I will try!

**senru111** - Thank you! I'm thinking of giving him quite a medium sized part. We'll see! (my catchphrase in everything) Lol I watched the Dear Boys anime, episode 1. It was sort of meh... I would read Dear Boys, but it's really long. And I don't know where to get it XD Oh well.

**FujiLoveR** - Thank you!! I don't know about SenRu. I think people are getting sick of me constantly saying 'We'll see' now so uh... yeah. XD

* * *

Scenes 5.1-5.6 – The Skits

* * *

The gym cum drama room was quiet in anticipation of what was to come. The lights were off, 'for dramatic effect' as Jin had instructed, but if you squinted you could just make out a table at the corner. Four people were sitting there, each holding several signs and a pen, as well as liberal amounts of paper. Since the lights were off, their faces were cast in shadow. But suddenly, a dim light flickered on and shone at the middle of the stage, and it was enough to illuminate the faces of Ishiguro Satoru, Anzai Mitsuyoshi, Takatou Riki and Taoka Moichi, all with glasses on, all ready to studiously take notes on and grade the four skits.

"What?!" Mitsui, the actual target of the spotlight, exclaimed in a scandalised tone. "You didn't tell me that you were grading us and you could have given us some warning!" He had completely forgotten about his role and Anzai didn't hesitate to remind him of that fact.

"Ho ho ho!" the portly old man laughed. "Mitsui-kun, don't forget that you are in your character right now," he said gently, which made Mitsui feel more guilty than any amount of harsh words would have. Meanwhile, the other three judges frowned, 'hmmm'ed disapprovingly and wrote some things down furiously. Although he was pacified by Anzai Mitsui still took note of them and his heart sunk, although why he did not know. He didn't care about this play thing. Right? Didn't he?

Obviously, the guy operating the lights must have been a real dunce (well, to be fair, it was all of their first time in this drama thing) because the lights then proceeded to flicker erratically. Mitsui had just been about to speak when he was cast into darkness again. Since no one could see him there was no point in talking. A few seconds later, the lights came back on for good and Mitsui took this as his cue to begin.

He was dressed in a scruffy detective trenchcoat and a battered old hat, and he walked across the stage (light following him faithfully) with a tired scowl on his face, as if he had given up on the world. This expression was actually so reminiscent of the old Mitsui that Miyagi blinked and his breath hitched. No one noticed, though, and Miyagi calmed himself down although even after that he was still a little stunned.

All around Mitsui were sleeping people. Rukawa lay snoring in the corner, while a couple of Ryonan and Shoyo guys walked around drowsily and eventually stumbled offstage drunkenly. It soon became apparent that Mitsui was chewing something, and he eventually spoke.

"En' tha' wuz mah kehse. Ah hed to faan' out jus' what wuz wrong wi' this sleepy town, what wuz makin' 'em all so spiritless n' like. Little did Ah know, though, that Ah would end up finding so much more, about _mahself_..."

A collective, but politely soft sound of suppressed laughter at Mitsui's exaggerated accent, among other things, came from the audience. As the sound floated towards Mitsui's ears, it echoed what seemed like a billion times until all Mitsui could hear was 'pfff... pfff... pff.. pff.. pff-

'pff-

'pff-

'pff

pf

'pf pf

pf pf

pf pf pf

pf pf pf...'

Thankfully he did not have any more lines to deliver. Mitsui himself was also thankful for another reason altogether, which soon appeared on stage.

Jin entered from stage right, and Mitsui stepped back just as the lights switched focus to the Kainan boy. And then everybody had to clamp their hands over their mouths to prevent themselves from just laughing outright. Even the judges. Jin was confused at the sudden synchronised slapping sound that occurred when he appeared, but soon realised what it was.

Like Mitsui, Jin was dressed in stereotypical film noir style clothing. Except that instead of playing the part of the jaded main character, he was the sidekick that was usually sassy, sexy and female. Jin had refused downright to cross-dress. Obliging and patient as he was, he was _not_ about to dirty his name by donning a wig and skirt. But Jin was also not a very good fighter, so Group 1's version of compromise had Jin decked out in tight. Sexy. Cracking. Etc. Leather... Ayako, and even Haruko who was, as we all know, infatuated with Rukawa could not deny his appeal right there.

Anyway, reluctantly, Jin started his lines.

"When I first saw that man, I thought, 'What the hell does he think he's doing here? This town is cursed, saturated with the bitter feeling of hate, and no amount of love will heal it. And this man didn't look like he had a lot of love, anyway. But maybe it was his large, strong figure, or the cigar that he chewed angrily in his mouth. This man meant business. Nothing would, no, nothing _could_ knock him down, and for the first time in a long time... I felt _hope_." Jin was really laying it on thick with the clichés as he turned _hope_ful eyes towards the audience.

The focus then switched back to Mitsui, who was quite enjoying the turn of events. At least they weren't laughing at him anyone. Summoning his drawl again, he said, "An' when ah saw him, ah wuz emmidjutly struck ba' dat look. Dat look of..."

"Hai, hai," Ishiguro suddenly interrupted them with a jovial, if not a little forced smile. "I think we've seen enough, haven't we, senseis?" he asked the three coaches who nodded fervently. They didn't think they could stomach another bad stereotype. Taoka didn't even want to see what they had planned for Hikoichi.

Meanwhile, Rukawa slumbered comfortably in the corner...

* * *

Ishiguro cleared his throat as Mitsui, Jin and the rest of Group 1 joined the huddled group of basketball players now looking at him.

"So," he said, peering closely at his notes. "Knowing what film noir actually is was a definite plus. Good grasp of different accents, which really distinguished the characters. Good parallel of activity and slumber," his glance flickered towards Rukawa, who was – what else? – sleeping, and for the first time there was a hint of annoyance in his eyes. This made Jin's tentative smile go the opposite way fast.

"But," the director continued, smile strangely unwavering, "liberal use of clichés. A bit lacking in originality. For this skit... I give 6 out of 10." He produced a sign with a number 6 on it and waved it about. "Your opinion, senseis?"

Anzai gave Group 1 a tentative 7. His arm wavered as it held the sign aloft.

Taoka gave the group a 5.5, just because of Mitsui's horrible accent.

And Takatou gave the group a 6.

Being the first group, the performers didn't know whether to feel horrified or relieved. Well, admittedly, it wasn't like they had worked very hard... and they certainly didn't mind being cut off in the first minute of their five-minute skit at all. So it was probably a plus.

* * *

It was definitely a plus, Group 1 thought, because Ishiguro had some quite interesting things to say about Group 2 after stopping them a minute in as well.

"Four. Four out of ten," Ishiguro said. "On the grounds that it wasn't a real skit, just an excuse to turn the whole thing into a music performance." That had been thanks to the combined ideas of Fukuda and Yasuda, strangely enough. "It was original, though," he said before sitting down. "And I did like the lyrics that we did hear."

"I thought it was pretty good," Anzai spoke up, eyes twinkling. "Although, like you said, Ishiguro-sensei, quite inappropriate. But an interesting effort." He held up a 6.5 sign.

Group 2 headed back to the group of boys, paying the rest of their scores only the thinnest shred of affected attention, and Ishiguro noted this with a small sigh.

Group 3's performance passed by... exceptionally well, actually. Sakuragi and Sendoh, both vying for the position of top actor in Ishiguro's eyes, sniped at each other any moment they could – within the limits of their characters, of course – but this only added to the interest of the whole scene. Some well-placed remarks by Hasegawa and Uekusa sealed the whole deal and everyone in the gym, and not in the least Group 3 themselves, was surprised at the amount of life they had managed to inject into the scene. Their scores were 8, 9.5, 9 and 8 and it was taken for granted that they had blown all competition out of the water.

Until Group 4, of course.

* * *

Because he was such a brilliant student, Fujima had figured something out quickly in the first ten minutes of preparation and the group had spent the rest of their time productively and wisely rehearsing. As a result, they came out looking positively professional.

Kiyota sat Indian-style alone at the front left side of the stage, the curtains drawn behind him. His eyes were closed; then suddenly they burst open.

"Fate," he began solemnly, which shocked the hell out of Jin and the rest of the Kainan team. They had never seen Kiyota this serious since – no, actually they had never seen him this serious at all.

"Fate," Kiyota repeated, giving them all an unsettling sightless stare. "It powers the gears of life. It's often used to describe coincidence that occurs purely by chance. It smiles on some people and ruins others. But... what _is_ Fate?" Kiyota asked, inclining his head to look behind him, towards the stage. The curtains were rising, slowly exposing the frozen forms of Miyagi and Fujima, locked in a brawl.

"He was going to find out today."

The lights dimmed on Kiyota, and brightened on the two boys who suddenly sprang to life. They traded a couple of blows, and although their show fighting needed a lot of work since it was apparent that they weren't actually being serious, one couldn't help but be exhilarated at the level of acrobatics displayed by the two first-timers. Eventually, though, Miyagi slipped – sensing the opening, Fujima threw a punch right at his jaw and Miyagi flew backwards.

With his baddest smile (which was surprisingly very bad, especially since he now had a mafia moustache) Fujima sauntered over to Miyagi and slapped him hard. Ouch. Now that had been a perfectly earnest blow and Miyagi reeled. With an arrogant smirk, Fujima headed offstage, leaving Miyagi sitting still for a few seconds as the scene came to its natural conclusion.

"This boy had never been smiled on by life," Kiyota said heavily. "He'd never been athletic or smart, or rich. He didn't even grow up in particularly adverse conditions that would breed an ambition to win. His possible only redeeming feature was that he took whatever he was dished without complaint."

Miyagi finally stirred, but that movement in itself was not worth recording. An accurate description would be that he gave a small twitch, because that was all his pathetic body could do.

"More often than not the boy would question the point of life and the irony of Fate. Why it trashed deserving people – not him, of course, he was far too humble to consider himself worthy – and gave everything to ingrates. This person was just another person in the masses looking for the answer."

The lights had dimmed on Miyagi as Kiyota spoke, probably to give him a chance to change his position. As the lights shone on the stage again, the boys (and two girls) could see that the stage had been transformed into a street. But it was not desolate and dead like the one from the film noir scene, but instead bustling with life. A street like those in the heart of Tokyo or Shinjuku during rush hour. There was no drop in activity as many boys that had been dressed up to look like identical salarymen walked from stage right to stage left.

Miyagi, too, was walking from one end of the stage to another, head down and looking for all the world like the rest of the ordinary people on stage. Except for the fact that he was trying to walk from stage left to stage right. He was struggling against the tide. Despite his tiny stature compared to the rest of the basketball players, this feature alone identified him clearly in the audience's minds.

At first, it was not obvious to the audience (except Sakuragi) that Haruko had entered the scene, and was standing on the far side of the stage, a sea of salarymen between her and Miyagi. Her expression was nervous and fidgety (that would have been no surprise to Rukawa had he actually been paying attention) and she occasionally gave Miyagi worried glances as he tried to get through. Unsuccessfully. Miyagi could probably beat any of those guys in a fight, but even he couldn't resist the body weight of so many guys at once. His knees buckled as one of the guys bumped into him, and Haruko gasped, moving forward and finally alerting the others to her presence.

"So, what was the answer? What is Fate?" Kiyota continued breathlessly as Miyagi fell, bouncing off a random tall Shoyo guy onto the ground. He was now caught up in watching the narrative form, and being a part of it.

"Fate..."

But, unwavering, Miyagi reached out his hand to push himself up...

"Fate..."

...he made a fist as he did so, rising up to his full height, his gaze sweeping proudly across the entire audience...

"Fate is..."

Miyagi then stared directly at Haruko, whom he had finally reached. Closing his eyes, Miyagi brought Haruko into an embrace, which was accepted as the girl practically ran into him in her joy. Miyagi's face broke out into a blissful grin (Sakuragi hissed) as he caressed Haruko's back once – before suddenly stopping because he felt guilty. Ayako was still on his mind.

"...what you make of life."

Easing his way out of the embrace, Miyagi gave Haruko a tender look, although it was nowhere near the ones he gave Ayako. For some reason, Ayako felt relieved at that. Then he stepped aside, still holding onto Haruko's hand, and gave Fujima, who had re-emerged and was waiting on the opposite side of the stage, a challenging smirk.

"Only you can control your own fate," Kiyota finished, and the lights went out.

* * *

After the initial panic ("What, you mean it wasn't on purpose?!" "Shut up you redhead monkey, find the mains circuit!"), someone eventually fixed the problem and the lights of the practice hall flickered on again. All eyes were on Ishiguro as he looked around for his notes, and waited for the verdict on this utterly awesome piece. The director blushed a little at the attention (some of the more perverted boys pushed wrong thoughts out of their minds) and cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Well, I thought it was very good."

There was silence for a moment as the group waited expectantly for a hint that that was _not_ all he had to say.

Ishiguro had a perplexed little smile on his face to indicate clearly that it _was_.

Eventually, Kiyota said in a strange voice, "Um... is that it? What about the scores and all?"

"I couldn't score it," Ishiguro promptly replied. Unreadably. "It surpassed my expectations of you, I'm ashamed to admit. It's probably somewhere around 12 or 13 out of 10."

'_You just scored it..._' everyone thought but since it would be incredibly tactless and not actually that funny to voice it, no one did.

Group 4 blinked when it was apparent that Ishiguro didn't really have anything else to say on the subject. Suddenly, they felt quite nervous. It had felt so right on stage but had it all been wrong?

"I thought it was quite deep and thought-provoking," Anzai suddenly said, holding up a '10'. He had interrupted the tension as he was often prone to do. Taking his lead (although they would never admit it), Taoka and Takatou also gave their equally high scores and opinions about the performance, which put considerably more of a smile on Group 4's faces...

...until they realised that it had just been a normal practice skit and this achievement, while pretty good, wasn't exactly that great. It wasn't just as if they had performed the final play in front of a real audience, after all. They didn't even know each other that well, but upon the realisation that next week they probably would not be working together, and not have an excuse to talk to each other again... they all felt a strange twinge in their hearts...

* * *

**After the practice.**

(**ISHIGURO **hands **RUKAWA **a script.)  
**ISHIGURO**: You're Rukawa, right? Could you do me a favour and say this, please?  
(**SENDOH **and **SAKURAGI **walk round the corner and stop upon seeing the director up close and personal with Rukawa. Meeting each other's eyes, they reach an unspoken agreement not to alert the two of their presence.)  
**RUKAWA**: (monotonously) _But, soft what, light through yonder window breaks it, is the east and, Juliet is the sun.  
_**ISHIGURO**: (frowning) Pretty good.  
(**SENDOH **and **SAKURAGI **express a huge amount of disbelief, waving their hands around exaggeratedly but also silently.)  
**ISHIGURO**: Want to play Romeo?  
**SAKURAGI**: (unable to contain his astonishment any further) But that fox can't even get his pauses right!!  
(**SENDOH **hurriedly clamps a hand over **SAKURAGI**'s mouth)  
**RUKAWA**: No.  
(**RUKAWA **walks off, hands in his pockets, already plugged into his Panasonic, leaving the unreadable **ISHIGURO**, the fuming **SAKURAGI **and the thoughtful **SENDOH **staring after him.)

* * *

Holy hammer that chapter was long.

Oh, and don't be too mad at me for that choice of casting. What can I say? Ishiguro is a weird man. He likes trying things out for short bursts of time. He'll also be showing a whole lot more of his personality in future chapters. Stay tuned!


	6. Snags

QWERTYUIOP!

Crap. I thought I had informed you all that Yasuda was the one who had met Hanagata in the bookstore scene in chapter 3. Until I was writing this chapter and I realised that I had chosen to keep the part where I reveal that out of the story because it sucked. Uh, oops... Oh well.

Wow, this chapter is actually longer than the previous one. By around 100 words.

Anyway, I just realised that I posted this story one month ago! Well, on my clock since it's 5 minutes past midnight, June 11 right now. Hehehe. Happy one month anniversary! This is also why I decided to post this chapter instead of waiting until I got more of chapter 7 done.

Last thing. This chapter gets half-serious pretty quick. The secondary genre may be Humour, but the primary genre is General ;)

**senru111** - Thank you! And I agree! But no one can get in the way of ART! Kiyota being serious huh... well, it was on a whim. But I decided it would be pretty nice, so there we are!

**mou-mou** - Thank you! My last exam is tomorrow. And then I will be free!! I have plans for my OC, I need to think about it for a while though. Oh well, with the coming holidays I will have lots of time XD

**mada mada dane!** - Thanks! I try to make the people act naturally, you know? So you won't think '...he won't act like that...' Well, not too much. :D -cheesy grin- As for shounen-ai, maybe, if I can find a way to work it into the fic and make it believable... because I fail incredibly at writing romance.

* * *

Scenes 6.1-6.8 – Little Snags Are Going To Become Big Ones When Tangled Up. Which They Will Be. Eventually. Believe Me. Okay I'll Stop Now, I'm Spoiling The Mood.

* * *

**Another 'Chance' Meeting At The Bookstore...**

"Oh, Yasuda-san. We meet again."

"Hanagata-senpai!" the younger boy jumped up and almost tripped over his own feet in his haste to acknowledge the senior. Sure, they acted like rivals on court, but Yasuda was nice enough and Hanagata was practical enough not to let their rivalry spread from there. Unlike some other people.

But they weren't social enough to strike up conversation literally out of nowhere, either.

Eventually, Yasuda broke the silence. Even though it was a bookstore, the silence didn't seem like it was helping them to read and was more awkward instead.

"You know, Rukawa got the part of Romeo. The director personally approached him." He had found that out, of course, from Miyagi who had been the only one able to wrangle the reason Sakuragi was acting so strangely from him.

A smile quirked Hanagata's face, and he replied, "Well, Fujima's tactics got him off the radar yet again." Seeing Yasuda's politely confused expression, he elaborated. "I mean, I know that he was the one who got the basic idea of the scene done. Something like this probably happened after that:

'_Ah! I've got it,' Fujima said casually to his group, who all exhaled deeply and simultaneously in relief. 'I've got a plan for our scene.' He quickly outlined basically how the scene would go, and even Miyagi, who hated to acknowledge his rivals' strengths, had to concede that it was a pretty good idea._

'_Yeah...' Fujima finished and looked about his group, noting every face. 'I think Akagi-san should play the part of the girl, right?' A couple of the players, especially the older ones, had to look twice at Haruko once Fujima mentioned her. They all found it incredibly hard to relate this soft-spoken girl to the Gorilla of Shohoku High... Anyway, there was a general murmur of agreement and Haruko nodded as well._

'_I'll be the narrator,' Kiyota said stoically and everybody was surprised since it was pretty unexpected of him. They had thought that he would either take the largest role or try to remain silent and inconspicuous enough so as to not get a part at all. But the fact that Kiyota had volunteered for a side role..._

'_I'll be the bully,' Miyagi followed, but since not many people in that group were from Shohoku less people were surprised. 'And you're the main guy, right, Fujima?'_

'_Actually... Miyagi, I think it would be better if we reversed roles,' Fujima said, assuming a thoughtful expression (although internally he was like 'Crap no I must not get the main role I don't want to be in the spotlight'). 'Do you think you could switch with me? I mean, no offence meant, but I think that your smaller stature would bring out the idea of futility a little more.'_

You bastard..._ Miyagi thought._

'_Whatever...' his mouth said in a disgruntled fashion._

_And the rest was admittedly short history._"

"...Ah," Yasuda said.

"...Yep," Hanagata finished.

* * *

Jin, captain of Kainan High Basketball Team, cleared his throat.

"Um... So, uh, cleaning duty today will be taken by Take-"

"I'm really sorry, Jin-san, but I have a really tough Math test tomorrow and I really need to study for it. Could you let me off this once, please?" the first-year begged Jin, even going so far as going on his knees and putting both palms together in praying position. "I'll make up for it double next time! Promise!"

"Oh..." Jin bit his lip. He really hated being such a nice guy sometimes. He hadn't received any concessions from the captain and later Maki, back when he had been a first-year, but the freshie within him remembered how hard it had been to balance both school and work, and yada yada yada. Jin was filled with a feeling of empathy for him and reluctantly nodded. "All right. Well, what about you, Teruo?"

"I'm in the same class as Takeshi," Teruo Kouji said to Jin, pushing his luck with a wide smile that was both apologetic and pleading at the same time. "You know Mutou-sensei's tests are really tough, right? I'll stay with Takeshi next time and do double the work, too! I really can't afford to fail this test!"

"All right..." Jin said helplessly. "Suzuki?"

"Sorry, Jin, my brother's coming back from Okinawa today and I promised my mum I'd be home early to prepare..."

"Kumai?"

"Man, I'd do it if I could, but I honestly didn't think I'd have to do it today and promised my girlfriend to go to the carnival with her..."

"Yoshimoto?"

"I have to pick up my sister from kindergarten at 5 sharp and believe me Jin I tried to get out of it but you know my mother..."

And eventually, Jin's patience ran out. "This is ridiculous!" he said, and there might have even been a hint of anger in his tone. "Is there no one that is free and willing to clean up today?!"

There was a silence, and then one voice broke it.

"I can," Kiyota said with a half-shrug, careful not to jostle his wounded wrist (that he had sprained earlier during practice). "Well... it'll take me longer than usual, but I can do it if there really is no one." Jin was horrified at this statement and it showed in his voice.

"But you're injured!" he said, frowning. "How are you going to mop up and hold the broom, and things like that?"

"I'll manage," Kiyota said with a brassy smile. "Don't worry about it, Jin-senpai." Even injured he was still every inch the cocky young Super Rookie of Kainan, believing that he could do anything. It was moments like this that made him quite likeable in Kainan despite his long-suffering arrogance.

"Are you sure?" Jin said concernedly. "You have to rest your hand, you know. The winter championships aren't that far away, after all," he pointed out. And eventually, the declaration that the whole team had been waiting for came out. "You know what..." he said with a sigh. "It feels wrong to be doing this, as captain, but I'd rather help you with cleaning the gym rather than have one of our starters unable to play because of my selfishness. I'll stay behind to help you, Kiyota."

'_Hook, line and sinker,_' the rest of the team thought, hiding a smirk behind their carefully neutral expressions.

* * *

"How was the _daaaaate_, Keiko-chan?"

"Better than I imagined! Thanks so much for setting it up, Aya-chan. I never knew that he could be so _romanti-_"

**THE TWO GIRLS WERE SUBJECTED TO A SAKURAGI GLARE!**

"Geez, what's his problem."

**º†º†º**

"...First chop the carrots, then sprinkle them liberally into the mixture of _romaine _lett-"

**THE TELEVISION WAS SUBJECTED TO A SAKURAGI GLARE!**

"-uce and other vegetables before finally adding the olive oil. Doesn't it look lovely?..."

**º†º†º**

"Ready to start working, Misaki-kun?"

"But it's such hard work, Tani-senpai!"

"You have to keep working at it! Just do that, and you'll have improved without noticing. You know the saying '_Rome_ wasn't bu-"

**RANDOM SENIOR STUDENT TUTOR #n WAS SUBJECTED TO A SAKURAGI HEADBUTT!**

There were no protests until Sakuragi was well away.

**º†º†º**

"Man, that History test next week is going to suck the crap outta us!" Youhei said easily, casting a worried look at his best friend who was walking glumly beside him.

"Hnn," Sakuragi replied vaguely, one hand slinging his schoolbag over his shoulder and his other hand in his pockets. And this was exactly what Youhei had been fearing. Sakuragi had once again lost his spirit. Not to mention that a certain anniversary was coming up... Frowning a little, Youhei tried to steer away from dangerous territory.

But even he could not prevent those innocent slips of the tongue...

"Shit, you guys have a test?" Ookusu snickered. "Didn't you just have one like, two weeks ago? Your teacher is a beast!"

"Tell me about it," Youhei replied glumly. Then, in a warning tone: "Don't go all high-and-mighty now though just because you've got the ultra-nice Tamura-sensei."

"It doesn't hurt that she's really cute, too!" Takamiya chipped in with a goofy grin, a heart materialising out of nowhere next to his face. "She's gotten us to watch _Samurai Champloo_ in order to learn about the Meiji era and _rōnin_-"

**TAKAMIYA NOZOMI WAS SUBJECTED TO A SAKURAGI-STYLE BEAT-UP!**

('Oops,' Youhei thought. 'Wrong topic.')

After waiting for the steaming pile of Nozomi to finish recovering (Youhei warned the rest of the army against saying words that sounded like 'Romeo' in the meanwhile), the Sakuragi army was on their merry way towards the crossroads where they would all separate to their various directions and go home. The mood had lightened considerably again and the boys were even making fun of Sakuragi without fear. Sakuragi had been just about to summon his long-awaited spirit (the army had even cowered in anticipation) when he suddenly stopped with an odd expression on his face.

After realising that he was safe, Youhei, and then the rest of the group slowly straightened up and peered in the direction Sakuragi was looking at, confused. There was a bunch of delinquents sneering at them, but what else was new?

"Oi, Hanamichi, you know these people?" Ookusu elbowed him and asked, but received no reply from the unusually pensive Sakuragi. Abruptly, the redhead straightened up and walked firmly away amidst jeers that soon came from that group. Ookusu didn't take kindly to being jeered at and soon he, Noma and Takamiya were in full battle-pose, ready to pounce at any order, when Youhei tugged them away.

"Not today," he said warningly. And the tone was completely different from the jokingly warning one he had earlier. "Hanamichi is more important that those assholes."

* * *

Kiyota had actually not done a lot of work. His wrist had given out halfway through so he was currently standing at a corner of the gym, Kainan uniform jacket thrown over his shoulders, whilst Jin worked on getting a suspicious stain off the ground. And he was feeling pretty damn bad about that.

"Come on, Jin-senpai..." Kiyota said for the millionth time, "it isn't _right_ for you to be doing this," he continued passionately. "Yeah, maybe I was a little overconfident about the cleaning thing, but that doesn't mean you have to do it all! Or at all! It's making me feel bad! Just leave it all for Takeshi and Teruo next time. They won't mind!" His mouth ran ahead of his brain as usual trying to get his captain to stop, but it was okay this time since they were on the same wavelength, for once.

Jin stopped cleaning just long enough to give him a reproachful look.

"And you know that the floor will just stay dirty all this time," he chided his junior. "Leaving it will only make stains and stuff harder to remove. Besides, I don't mind," he reassured Kiyota with a smile. "It even brings back some memories. I had to do this all the time last year."

Jin hadn't exactly been the star kid of his year last year. In fact, last year's crop of prospective players had been rather disappointing. Half had quit after the first practice and half of the remaining had quit before the first game. This was apparently normal for Kainan, but the problem was that those who remained didn't have talent. Or just weren't focusing it in the right places, like Jin.

His smooth three-pointers hadn't been built up in a day. Jin had had to practice long and hard to achieve them, and we all know how he had to shoot 500 shots after every practice. It hadn't actually been until he graduated his first year that he'd finally mastered the shot, just in time for the Summer Inter-High too. And so in his first year Jin had been given a lot of cleaning duties since he stayed back to practice anyway and might as well clean up after himself.

Eventually, Jin finished and headed off to the changing rooms to shower and change. Kiyota waited in the changing rooms for him to emerge since they liked to go home together, living in the same neighbourhood and all.

Then there was a crash that seemed to come from the gym.

'_Those idiots!_' Kiyota thought angrily, just as Jin rushed out worriedly, half-dressed. He quickly finished dressing and started towards the door of the changing room. "What was that, Kiyota...?"

'_Time to stall, time to stall..._' Kiyota thought frantically to himself whilst cursing in his mind. '_Stupid guys can't even get something this simple right..._'

When he turned to Jin, his face was perplexed. "There was something?" he asked his senior in a confused tone. "I didn't hear anything... what was it like?"

"I swear there was something," Jin insisted. "It was this huge crash from the direction of the gym. What if someone is trying to break into our school?! Steal stuff like trophies or money, or just vandalise it?"

Actually, Kiyota didn't care if the latter was true, in which case he wasn't. He held up his uninjured hand to placate Jin whilst letting his mouth do all the work. What came out usually worked even when no brainpower was behind it.

"Senpai," he said solemnly, "I swear there was nothing. Maybe you were practising so much that the bouncing sound just echoes in your mind. It's happened to me. But," Kiyota injected swiftly as he saw Jin about to say something, "if you really want to, we could swing by the gym after we get everything here packed, before we go home. You have to lock up anyway, right?"

"I guess..." Jin said uncertainly and went back to packing his bag and making sure the changing rooms were clean too. Soon enough they were ready to go, and Kiyota led him to the gym. He folded his arms and leant against one of the walls outside, waiting for Jin to finish inspecting. Except that he never did. Jin, I mean.

When Jin entered the dark gym suspiciously, he was greeted by a sudden flash of light and many loud noises! Jin also noticed some coloured streamers going off in the background for – oh.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JIN-SENPAI!" the basketball team yelled loudly, giving out lots of cheers and each thumping Jin on the back. Kiyota had casually strolled in amongst all the celebration and had only a grin on his face as Jin stared at him accusingly. Heck, Jin was overwhelmed. He was not used to large celebrations at all, having celebrated his previous birthdays privately and quietly at home with only a special dinner and a couple of gifts. And now... hell, even the third-years were here! Mutou was smiling at him, Miyamasu had an excited grin on and Maki just nodded at him pleasantly.

"We know it's not your real birthday yet, Jin-senpai," Kiyota explained once the gym quieted, "and that it's like... on Saturday, yeah. But we figured that this would mean an even bigger surprise, which isn't a bad thing at all." Jin could only nod, but didn't have to say anything since he would have been interrupted anyway.

"Let's hear it for Captain Jin!" Teruo cheered enthusiastically. "Come on, let's bring in the cake! Happy early 17!!" And the cheers rose again as everybody made merry, passing around plates, drinks, food and more.

Eventually, after eating about half a slice of cake, Jin finally said, "Guys... I don't know how to thank you. This is really great. I wasn't expecting this at-"

He was silenced by Kiyota.

"Shut it, Jin-senpai," he advised. "Just enjoy your party."

Jin had actually been intending to say something about cleaning duties after his thank-you speech, but changed his mind at Kiyota and the rest of the team's earnestness (which was probably a good thing). Deciding to drop it, he smiled agreeably and continued to eat.

* * *

"So Bossman, what's bothering you?" Noma asked after a generous helping of drinks (Coke Light). They had had dinner at Sakuragi's place and were now watching old Godzilla reruns on Sakuragi's old TV.

"Who were those guys, Hanamichi?" Youhei asked him seriously. "I've never seen them before. Were they from middle school?"

"Yes," Sakuragi answered, and left it at that. He chewed moodily for a while, his eyes completely clouded and unreadable. The other boys were worried. They had never seen their friend like this before, not even when he had been bummed out after his 51st rejection. That Sakuragi had been half-dead, unresponsive and depressed. _This_ Sakuragi was awake, alert and darkly smouldering.

"Tell us, Hanamichi," Takamiya said and would have sounded serious if he wasn't chewing and swallowing a bite of pizza right then. "Not to sound sappy, but we do care about you, y'know." This was echoed by the other members of the army as they clinked their Coke cans against each others'. They would have broken into drunken song, but that would have ruined the mood. Not to mention the fact that they weren't actually drunk.

"I know..." Sakuragi muttered, his gaze still on the screen. Godzilla was currently beating the crap out of Ultraman, aided by absolutely atrocious sound effects. There was a pause as the Army exchanged glances, unsure of what to do. Then Youhei broke the silence again.

"Hanamichi?" he said softly, uncertainly. "Let's go beat them up, if you want. Or if you can't, because of basketball, we'll do it for you." The other boys nodded, watching their friend.

"No, no..." Sakuragi said glumly, finally looking at them. "Well, unless they piss you off." He lapsed into thought again.

"Just who the hell were they, Hanamichi?" Ookusu demanded. "We're your friends. You can tell us anything, you know."

"I met them in middle school," Sakuragi replied in a low voice. "I beat them up for trying to mug me. You know, the day that my old man..."

It was suddenly understood just who those people were and a hard look passed between the other four members of Sakuragi's Army.

"So, it was them who...?" Youhei asked tentatively.

"...killed my old man, yes," Sakuragi said harshly. Then: "...no. They didn't. _I did._"

* * *

Oh my gaa! Sendoh! How could I have gone through an entire chapter without you?! Actually, the previous chapter was without mention of you either, but um. Yeah...

The next chapter is in serious construction stage, so it may be a while before it comes out. But I will endeavour to quicken the process! Just watch me! -fights like ultraman to defeat godzilla writer's laziness + block-

Please read and review! Man, I remember when everyone put that at the end of their fics. Old times... Seriously though, 200+ hits divided by 5 chapters is 40 hits per chapter, which means that half of the people aren't reviewing! I thrive on constructive criticism and like to hear what you think after reading. Especially after this chapter, actually...


	7. Cast List

I recently got a new PC with a whole lot more storage space, so I sort of am playing around with it. My apologies... And somehow, for me, no more exams equalled more time going out, watching movies etc. which equalled less time writing. I'll change! (/Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged moment)

Also, I recently got into Rookies (manga and drama). To all fans of Slam Dunk (should be all of you right? XD) I strongly recommend it! It's super good. It's a baseball manga where a teacher tries to reform a bunch of delinquent baseball players.

Somehow this chapter feels less good quality... Let this be a lesson! Hiatuses never work! Unintentional hiatuses are even worse! Oh, and if you want to keep informed of my progress (you know, be assured that I am alive and stuff) you can go to my blog on LJ which is my web site. Or you can check my blog thing in my profile. And please tell me if my language is getting tedious. Hehe..

**SlamDunk160** - Thank you! Your reviews never fail to make me feel fuzzy too! Yes, Jin's birthday is October 28! Hee hee, lots of people seem to love Sendoh! Me too. XD Oh well... Sorry I haven't been keeping tabs on your Kainan horror fic, I will read and review soon!

**hidamari** - I would love to say that I had something huge planned out, like the gradual growth of Sakuragi into a man, and that the play and Rukawa getting the part of Romeo was him realising that he would sometimes have to suck it up in life (if he hadn't realised that already), and the seeing of the gang was a reminder to let go... etc, but um. I kind of felt that this fic should be not just humour, and have a few serious bits, and this arc randomly popped into my mind. :( But anyway, thank you! I love getting new reviewers and I am glad that my story was hooking to you :) xD Hope you like this one, too!

**mou-mou** - Well um, I sort of explained the situation of exams-over in the first paragraph. BUT I WILL CHANGE! Lol!! I guess if you look at it from a certain angle, that seems quite plausible... hmm...

**senru111** - Let me tell you the story of Chapter 6. It was originally going to include some very epic things, but after weeks of writing and dissatisfaction I decided to lower the epic to raise the quality a little bit. Heheh, I was inspired by the beginning of Slam Dunk where Sakuragi is like, freaking out whenever someone says something that resembles 'basketball' although I'm sure you and everybody else knew that! XD Thank you for the double review XDXD My heart skipped a beat when I checked my email and saw it! And I felt really guilty for leaving it! So yeah! I started hard work!

**honestcritic92** - Thank you for the review! Honestly, I am not that good, there are a billion other better writers with better grasp of stuff like symbolism and language and style and stuff, but I do try and that's why we experiment :) Hope you like it this time around, although I am a little worried about the language (tediousity? That's probably not even a word.. xD) in this chapter, although I like the contents!

* * *

Scenes 7.1-7.5 – In Which the Cast List is Finally Revealed, among Other Things

* * *

Jin's real birthday soon rolled around. It was also coincidentally the day of the second play practice session, although I'm sure that you all knew that. After having a low-key breakfast with his family and receiving several small, low-key gifts with his signature smile, Jin waved his parents goodbye and set off towards the municipal building.

He soon met up with Kiyota and they chatted as they walked. Halfway on their journey, though, Kiyota stopped suddenly.

"Hey," he said, pointing at a certain redhead walking not towards the municipal building, but towards the train station. "Look."

"That's Sakuragi, right?" Jin said. "I wonder where he's going... he's going to be late! Maybe he's just going to the convenience store, or something," he finished. Jin always thought the best of someone.

Of course, that thought was cruelly ripped to shreds as they saw Sakuragi buy a ticket and disappear into the station.

"Hey, that monkey's skipping class!" Kiyota declared, as if Jin didn't know that already. "What the hell does he think he's doing? Of course, we wouldn't be missing out on a lot without him," he paused to say thoughtfully, "but this play is only for our future basketball careers! If he's really serious, he should be there too and not skiving!" He pulled Jin along to the station just in time to see Sakuragi disappear into a train headed for Odawara. Well, Odawara was the last station on that line.

"If we dared to do this, Takatou would have our heads!" Kiyota said indignantly, but was stopped by a raised hand from Jin as he looked warily at four dangerous-looking people who had materialised out of nowhere.

"What is that you're saying?" the blonde one said threateningly, just as a light bulb turned on in Kiyota's mind and he pointed to them, saying, "You're Sakuragi's friends! Tell us what the hell he's doing, man!"

"No," the leader said. "That's his business, and not yours." '_Piss off_' was also heavily implied.

Kiyota didn't, and Jin perhaps unwisely decided to stay and see how the 1st year would handle the situation.

"No," Kiyota replied stubbornly, folding his arms. "Not until you tell us what's up with that red-haired monkey. Who does he think he is, skipping practice like that?"

"Who do you think _you_ are?" the leader shot back acidly. "You don't know Hanamichi. What makes you think you have a right to tell him what to do?"

"Me?" Kiyota asked rhetorically, in an outraged tone, and already his arms were moving to his hips and Jin recognised the beginning of the line that he was most known for. Fortunately, the gangsters had moved closer to Kiyota and thus further from Jin, giving him an escape route...

"-Kiyota Nobunaga, the Super Rookie from Kai-" Kiyota announced before he was interrupted by the deafening _whooooooosh_ of the train leaving. Jin took this moment to pull Kiyota away and leave hastily with a, "Oh, darn! The train's left! No point in sticking around now!..."

"Man, Jin-senpai! What the hell, man? I had the whole situation covered! Why pull us away when I was so close to finding out where the hell that red-haired monkey went?" Kiyota later demanded, crossing his arms and yet still trying to keep up with a hurrying Jin at the same time. This resulted in him waddling quite comically and Jin only refrained from laughing out of kindness.

"Because," Jin promptly replied, "we are going to be late and you don't want that, do you, with the future of Kanagawa basketball in our hands?"

But in reality, he was thinking of the Odawara line, and how all the stations on that line were in boring old depressing country places, and also about the only time when he had actually gone on that line: when he had gone, with his family, to visit the grave of his grandmother...

* * *

"Hey, guys," Ishiguro said cheerfully. This time the Shibuya trends seemed to have shifted to two-tones as he was decked in only two colours. He was also wearing a pair of black thick-rimmed glasses that would have looked dorky on anybody else but endearingly cute on him – which, of course, to the boys, also translated to dorky in the end.

"Today," Ishiguro continued, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose where they belonged, "I will announce my picks for the actors of the different parts of the play. Please note that these choices are temporary and are subject to change at any moment. Director Ishiguro Satoru shall not be held responsible for any mental anguish or physical harm effected by these choices." The last sentence was said with a serene smile and that sent chills down every player's back (except Rukawa, who was sleeping as always). That was again noted with a frown, and Sakuragi's absence was not missed either, but Ishiguro decided to say nothing about it as he pushed up his glasses again.

"But first!" Ishiguro suddenly switched to a jubilant tone and you could feel the air literally lift up as he talked, "I have an announcement to make." The mood in the hall turned to expectant and confused. "Today is Jin's birthday. Happy birthday, Jin." Somehow he said it so anti-climatically that the air flumped down again. There was some scattered applause from the Kainan group but that was all. Jin raised his hand in confused thanks.

"Now that that's done with... First, the house of the Capulets," Ishiguro announced. "Juliet, Haruko-san. Lord Capulet, Uekusa. Lady Capulet, Jin-"

The whole hall erupted into laughter and Jin was not amused at all. He regretted thanking Ishiguro, especially since he hadn't actually seemed that enthusiastic about his birthday in the first place, and almost regretted saving Kiyota from the Shohoku gangsters just to get here on time, if this had been what was to await him. Kiyota and the rest of the Kainan team were trying to stifle their guffaws in an attempt to respect their captain, but the other schools were not as nice. Shoyo was snickering evilly, their bass tones reverberating across the hallway, and over in the Ryonan section Fukuda was the only player not rolling on the floor. Jin would have to thank him some day, maybe take him out for a drink or something. And even without Sakuragi Shohoku was having a real ball, with Miyagi already mimicking a woman's gestures. Mitsui had an insufferable smirk on his face and of course Rukawa was sleeping.

"You won't know until you try!" Ishiguro cheerfully pointed out and Jin felt like he wanted to be buried deep underground. In a desert. With only the vultures above. And maybe some cacti too.

Now that he had said what he'd wanted to say, the director ignored the bustle and continued in a carefree manner, "...Tybalt, Sendoh Akira. And the Nurse, Ayako-san. Then the house of the Montagues. Romeo, Rukawa. (Sendoh would have died a little inside if he hadn't known this already and was thusly already dead) Lord Montague, Sakuragi. Benvolio, Miyagi. Lady Montague... now we have a problem. We'll fix it later. And Balthasar, Yasuda." Yasuda gave a little wince at this. He didn't want to go on stage at all! But he guessed that he should be thankful that it was only a minor role.

"And as for the other characters; Prince Escalus, Fujima. ('Is that a large role?' Fujima wondered.) Count Paris, Koshino. Mercutio, Kiyota. Friar Lawrence, Mitsui."

A wave of sniggering broke out across the hall, centered in the Shohoku section, but it was nowhere near the level of appreciation Jin's role had received. Mitsui, the delinquent, ex-gangster, a friar? That was like making Kiyota a princess!

...there was suddenly a silence as the boys desperately tried to get that image out of their head.

Unperturbed, Ishiguro carried on, pushing up his glasses yet again, "Chorus, Teruo. Friar John, Hikoichi. And last, Apothecary, Fukuda." Only the slightest downturn of Fukuda's mouth showed his displeasure. He didn't exactly want to be the one who directly caused the play's tragic ending. He hoped that Ishi hadn't assigned him to this role based on appearance...

There were no silly objections like 'But Ishi, isn't a chorus made up of multiple people?', which was good because it showed that the boys had read up on their stuff. Or it could show that the boys hadn't and were trying to act like they had whilst being apathetic about the play at the same time. Ishiguro preferred to believe that it was the former.

"Well," he said, "I've given your coaches some instructions and they'll be heading the different groups that I'll make. First we'll be learning lines and hotseating, which is basically going in character and responding to questions the way your character would. There will be two groups of actors, and two groups of stage crew..." he trailed off, before finishing happily, "Well, I'll be heading one of the actor groups. So, would Yasuda, Fujima, Rukawa..."

* * *

"So," Coach Takatou said uncertainly, glancing and flipping through the clipboard of notes he held in his hand. In basketball he always knew what to do, but when it came to drama? He had no clue whatsoever. Sendoh, Koshino, Kiyota and the others didn't know how to react. Should they say something? Should they just wait for him to think of something? Should they start with what Ishi had proposed?

"Takatou-sensei," Jin came to the rescue of his coach and said, "Umm... why not start with that 'hotseating' thing that Ishiguro-san was talking about?"

"Hotseating!" Takatou said loudly enough for the other three groups to hear and they gave this group odd looks as the boys cringed. "Yes. Er, hotseating," Takatou continued, softer this time, and flipped furiously through the pages to look for instructions on that topic. "Well." He was obviously stalling and trying to give himself more time to search for the appropriate information, and his group would have laughed (except for dutiful Jin of course) if it hadn't been so awkward.

Eventually Takatou found what he was looking for, and he pointed at Sendoh. "You're first." This was probably because of some past grievance he had with the boy, the whole 'Can I be Romeo' business notwithstanding. With a sigh, Sendoh stood up and moved gracefully to the chair in the middle of the group (that had been hastily produced when Takatou had ordered for one, in the middle of reading his notes). He sat down, draping his long body artfully over the different edges of the chair and smiling his easy smile that annoyed Takatou so.

"Ask him questions," Takatou ordered his group. "Go on."

Koshino was the first to do so. "So, who are you?" he asked slowly.

"Tybalt of the Capulets," Sendoh replied smoothly and promptly. For Koshino, it was hard to reconcile this confident young man with the crushed boy that had been whining to him all throughout the days prior to practice, but Koshino had been Sendoh's best friend for years now and was used to his mercurial personality by now. Even if it still annoyed him to no end. Sendoh was probably just trying to show his good side to Ishiguro for these two hours of practice, which would of course mean two more days of whining afterwards.

"Go on..." he said, slightly sardonically, and Tybalt-Sendoh gave a huge sigh. Meanwhile, Takatou made some notes that looked quite negative, if one could tell from the expression on his face.

"What are your hobbies?" Miyagi asked lazily, and for a moment an unsure expression flitted across Sendoh's face. Then it smoothened out again and he answered, albeit slowly, "I like fencing."

"...is that _it_?" Miyagi asked suspiciously after a long silence. "That's kind of sad."

A vein twitched in Sendoh's temples. "It's not like _your_ character has anything better to do," he said and Koshino's heart sank. Sendoh was most definitely not okay under that confident mask. It seemed that Rukawa's 'victory' (since anybody could clearly see that that boy didn't care at all) had hit him harder than Sendoh had made them believe.

"Hey!" Miyagi was getting fired up now. "Now _that_ was totally uncalled for! There are so many more things I can say about Tybalt aside from his lack of a life so cut it with the attacks!"

"Well," Sendoh countered fiercely, expression taut in a challenging smile that was not unlike when he was in a particularly exciting basketball match, "at least my role is much more important to the story!"

There was a silence (the growing frequency of silences did not go by unnoticed) as Miyagi gaped, and Sendoh added petulantly, "And I have _more lines_!"

Miyagi replied, slightly confusedly, "Good for you?" thinking to himself that he'd rather have less lines thank you very much, just as Coach Takatou finished writing and glanced up. "That's enough," he said sharply. "Switch characters. You're up next, Koshino." It seemed that Takatou just had a beef with the entire of Ryonan High...

* * *

"Hai, hai," Ishiguro said cheerfully, clapping his hands once (which caused his glasses to fall from their position atop the bridge of his nose yet again) with a tone of finality. "That was a great showing, guys. You were no different from the drama students in my college." Whether Ishi actually meant it was anybody's guess, but it did make all the basketball players feel a bit better.

"I'm not going to assign homework because I never really believed in it, but I would like you to spend some time researching into your roles for next time," he continued cheerfully. "Use whatever methods you want. There is no set way to do things, after all. I'll leave it to your imagination." He then grew serious. "Well, you can all go, but a minute please, Rukawa-kun."

Rukawa looked up drowsily as he heard his name being called, and dazedly nodded an assent. He really had no idea what was going on so he would just have to use his extraordinary senses to find out. Hey, it had always worked before. But he hadn't counted on the sharp eyes of Ishiguro Satoru, which, coupled with his drama training, could easily read any emotions coming from anyone.

"Rukawa-kun," the director went straight to his point, "I'm not liking your lack of enthusiasm."

Rukawa raised an eyebrow. So that was what it was all about...?

"The part of Romeo is a really big one," Ishiguro continued, steamrolling over any words that Rukawa may have wished to say, whilst adjusting his glasses at the same time.

'_Oh'_, Rukawa thought, since thinking was so much faster than talking,_ 'then maybe you shouldn't have given it to me.'_

"I really believe that you have that _something_ in you that makes you perfect for the role," the man in front of him, that was slowly growing more and more unfamiliar, started to gush.

'_??_', Rukawa thought, not caring that his disbelief was openly showing on his face. His fangirls would have had a field day at Rukawa showing more emotion on his face at that moment that he had in his entire time in high school. Basketball didn't count.

"One week," Ishiguro finished passionately, thrusting one finger obnoxiously too close to Rukawa's face. "Just one week of being serious. Please. Try out the part of Romeo. Say the lines. No, actually _learn_ them. Watch a couple of performances. The stage would be empty without you."

Rukawa honestly didn't have anything to say to that. But that didn't matter, since he never talked anyway.

* * *

Well. That visit hadn't been as hard as he'd thought it would be. Because he had been a pretty shitty son, not even visiting his own dad's grave until two years after his death. Sakuragi had expected it to be overgrown with ivy, crusty with dirt and all that, but evidently his dad had some mates that visited regularly, and they had kept the grave clean and gravestone polished. Sakuragi would have to thank them later, maybe take them out for a drink or something.

Of course, two years of backlog had given him a lot of things to tell his dad. Sakuragi talked first about Youhei and the gang, how they were doing, and Shohoku High. Obviously it did not take long for the topic to migrate to basketball and Sakuragi described his team and exploits in lurid detail. He did not forget Haruko, leaving the best for last of course. Sakuragi spent the whole day at the graveyard and when he left it was with a much lighter heart. He was responsible for his dad's death, yes. So were the assholes from yesterday. But whether they had actually killed his dad was a grey area that needed to have been let go of a long time ago. Sakuragi wouldn't forgive and forget, hell no, how can you forgive something like that? But the next time he saw them, he wouldn't collapse into a bout of depression again. As he got off the train at his station, Sakuragi felt almost happy, and dropped by the convenience store to buy some drinks.

"Oh!" somebody somewhere under him said, and, looking down Sakuragi came face-to-face with Ishiguro of all people, presumably also picking up some supplies. Oh yeah, he lived near the station. Sakuragi tried to make his guilty expression not so obvious. He hoped that Ishiguro wouldn't ask about where he had been.

"Sakuragi!" the director exclaimed pleasantly. His lack of irritation and anger calmed the redheaded boy a little. And then the next question was suddenly rendered, in his mind, in slow motion. Ishiguro's mouth opened slowly and his words echoed strangely around Sakuragi's head. Sort of like:

"WhhhheEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeRree wwweeRRRRRRreeeee YYYYoooouuuu ttTTooooDDDDaYyyyyyy?"

"None of your business," Sakuragi answered automatically, and then after some reflection decided that that was a good response. Still, it came out sounding abrupt, like Sakuragi was angry, and Ishiguro was immediately reminded of the incident involving Sendoh earlier that day. It was no secret to any of the guys that Sakuragi liked Haruko and anybody could connect the dots and see that Sakuragi would want to be Romeo. Although admittedly Sendoh's intentions were a mystery.

"Are you angry because I gave Rukawa-kun the part of Romeo?" he asked cautiously, debating on whether to tell Sakuragi that his part was much smaller than Mitsui's or even Miyagi's.

"Hmph," Sakuragi replied, folding his arms at his chest and shiftily looking at a faraway shelf for some bread. Which was, of course, what he had been looking for in the first place.

"Well, the assignments aren't permanent, you know. I may or may not switch roles based on performance during the practices," Ishiguro said.

Sakuragi's only response was to edge a little further away under the pretense of looking for the freshest pack of bread. This made Ishiguro sigh, and eventually he said,

"You want _me_ to give you the part of Romeo, right?"

Sakuragi started visibly at this question, and turned around to look Ishiguro in the eye, expression unreadable for a second. When the second passed, though, a silly grin broke out upon his face and Sakuragi laughed right there and then in the middle of the convenience store. He attracted many odd looks but that was okay.

"Nyahahahaha!" he exclaimed. "No thanks, man! That part is so huge, I wouldn't want it for the _world_! And besides, Sakuragi Hanamichi doesn't accept free offerings! I work for what I get and this genius wouldn't have it any other way!" His sudden change of demeanour freaked Ishiguro out a little (okay, maybe a lot), but he smiled back, and nodded.

* * *

Sorry... for some reason, I feel that this chapter is full of fail. Well, that teaches me to randomly insert a 'supposed to be serious' arc. Although I have some more planned. Um. Shh.


End file.
